Ichigo is Sick
by Roxanna123
Summary: Isshin finds Ichigo sick with a fever and cough before going to bed one night and has ordered him to stay home and rest for a week. Rated for Ichigo's mouth. Also on Archive of Our Own. Cover image made by blackstorm on Deviantart.
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing**

Isshin let out a yawn and stretched his arms before leaving the bathroom to check on his children.

Ever since his wife passed away, Isshin made it a habit to check on his children before going to bed himself. It made him feel better to see his son and daughters safe and sound in bed.

He went to Yuzu's room first. He gently and quietly opened up her bedroom door and looked inside. Isshin found her curled in a ball, fast asleep. He smiled before closing her door and going to Karin's room. He found her sprawled across her bed, fast asleep as well and snoring fairly loudly but her blanket was on the floor. He went over and picked up Karin's blanket before covering her back up. Then, Isshin walked down the hall towards his son's room. He was going to open the door when he heard coughing.

'Ichigo!' he thought with worry.

Isshin opened the door and found Ichigo sitting up in bed, having a coughing fit. He went over and sat down next his oldest child before rubbing his back. Once the coughing fit stopped, Isshin pressed the back of his hand to Ichigo's forehead.

"Dad?" the orange haired teen asked, his voice rough from coughing.

"You're burning up," the older man told him gently, removing his hand. "Wait here while I get some supplies."

Then, he stood up and began to make his way towards Ichigo's door.

"D-Dad," Ichigo hoarsely called, reaching for him, intending to stop him.

The older Kurosaki stopped and turned towards his son.

"Just wait there," Isshin ordered in a gentle but firm tone. "I'll be back."

The teenager sighed but nodded and didn't try to stop him. Isshin turned back around and continued on. He went towards his room and grabbed the doctor's bag he keeps in his room for his family. With that in hand, Isshin made his way towards the bathroom and grabbed the medicine. Once he had the items he needed, the black haired man went back to Ichigo's room. He found the teenager trying to cough quietly. Isshin walked towards Ichigo's bed and sat down on it next to his son.

"I'm going to check your vitals, Ichigo," his father told him, going into Doctor Mode and placing the bag on the floor in front of him before opening it up and taking out some supplies. "I need you to be still."

Ichigo looked up at him before letting out a huff and giving his father a tired glare.

"It's just a cough, Dad," came the hoarse response.

Isshin pulled out a thermometer and cleaned and dried it first before offering it to his son.

"And a fever," the older man continued.

Ichigo frowned at the thermometer but took it and turned it on before placing it under his tongue. Then, Isshin took Ichigo's left wrist and began to take his pulse. He stayed quiet while he took his son's pulse and, unknown to his son, his respiration rate. After a while, the thermometer began to beep. Isshin let go of Ichigo's wrist and took the thermometer out of the teenager's mouth.

' _38.5_ _⁰_ _C_ '

'That's quite a fever he has,' the older man thought with concern as he placed the thermometer on Ichigo's bedside table.

"You're running a fever of 38.5," Isshin told him before picking up the blood pressure cuff and stethoscope he took out earlier. "Now, lift up your sleeve."

Ichigo let out a couple of coughs while he lifted up his left sleeve and offered his arm to his father, looking irritated. Isshin wrapped the cuff around Ichigo's upper arm and then placed the diaphragm of the stethoscope in the crook of his elbow.

"Now, you need to stay still or else the reading won't be accurate," Isshin ordered.

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

'I know,' he thought.

Then, his father inflated the cuff and then waited for a moment before deflating it. When he was done, he unwrapped it and took off the stethoscope.

"Your blood pressure has risen," Isshin told him, putting the blood pressure cuff back into the bag. "So has your pulse and respiration rate."

Ichigo looked confused.

'Respiration rate?' the teenager thought.

"My what?" he asked before letting off a couple of coughs.

"Your breathing," his father clarified. "Since your heart is working a little harder to get blood through your body to fight off the infection, your cells need more oxygen so you breathe faster."

His son gave him a sour look.

"Great," Ichigo responded in a sarcastic tone. "Just what I need."

Isshin ignored the response.

"Now, besides the cough," Isshin went on, "is there anything else bothering you?"

Ichigo went quiet for a moment, thinking. Then, he shook his head. Isshin sighed at this, knowing that Ichigo wasn't being truthful.

"You sure?" he asked. "No headache or sore throat? Nausea?"

Ichigo was going to shake his head again but stopped and began to rub his throat.

"Well, it does kinda hurt to swallow," the teenager admitted.

The older man nodded. Then, he reached into his bag and took out a pen light and a tongue depressor from a small container. He turned on the pen light.

"Ahh," Isshin prompted.

Ichigo sighed a little.

"This is so stupid," he muttered before opening his mouth wide. "Ahh."

Isshin peered inside Ichigo's mouth before letting out a 'hmm' sound.

"Your throat is red but it doesn't look like strep," he said, turning off the light and putting it away. "Is anything else bugging you?"

"No," said Ichigo, shaking his head. "Honest."

Then, he began to cough roughly. Isshin rubbed his back until the coughing fit passed. Once it did, he put the stethoscope back on.

"I'm going to listen to your lungs then you're going to take your medicine and get some rest," said Isshin.

Ichigo looked over at the medicine and saw it was the liquid kind. He made a 'yuck' face.

"I'll get you some water before you take it," Isshin told him.

The fifteen-year-old nodded.

"Ok," came the hoarse reply.

Isshin then pressed the diaphragm of the stethoscope onto Ichigo's chest.

"Now, I want you to breathe through your mouth," he said. "And be still. I won't be able to hear properly if your shirt is moving."

Ichigo nodded again. He relaxed and kept still while his father listened to his lungs. Once he was done, Isshin took off the stethoscope.

"Well, your lungs sound fine," he said, putting the stethoscope away. "So, you don't have a chest infection."

"Then what do I have?" Ichigo asked in an irritable tone before coughing.

The older Kurosaki rubbed his son's back until he stopped coughing. Once the coughing stopped, he reached over and opened up the medicine bottle.

"It sounds like the flu," he told him, pouring out the correct dose for Ichigo into the cup. "A week of rest will do you good."

Ichigo's eyes widened.

"A week?" he asked. "I can't stay in bed for a week. I'll go crazy."

"I'm sorry son," said Isshin, handing the cup to him. "But if you don't rest, then you'll get worse and have to rest even longer."

Then, he got up to get him some water. Ichigo glared at the cup of medicine.

"This sucks," he muttered before throwing the medicine back. "Cherry flavor. Yuck."

Isshin was quickly back with a bottle of water. He handed it to Ichigo, who quickly downed half of it.

"Thank you," breathed the fifteen-year-old.

Isshin gave Ichigo a small smile and smoothed back some of his hair.

"Now, get some rest," he told him. "Call me if you need anything. I'll be in my room and the door will be open. Ok?"

In reality, Isshin didn't feel comfortable with leaving his sick child alone at night even though he was fifteen. He wanted to stay with him and make sure he was alright.

Ichigo nodded tiredly and let out a few coughs.

"Ok," he answered hoarsely.

The teenager placed his water bottle on his bed side table and laid down in his bed while his father covered him with his blanket. Isshin placed a kiss on top of Ichigo's head and smoothed back some more of his hair before picking up his bag and making his way towards the teen's door. As Isshin walked towards his room, he heard Ichigo cough some more. He quickly went back to Ichigo's room and peeked inside. The orange haired boy was still laying down but he was facing his window. Ichigo coughed some more so Isshin went back over and rubbed his back to help stop the coughing.

"Dad," Ichigo spoke after the fit subsided and turned towards him. "I'll be fine. Go to bed. If I need anything, I'll let you know."

Isshin frowned at him, concern drenching him.

"Are you sure?" he asked in a worried tone. "You sure you'll be alright?"

Ichigo sighed before let off a couple more coughs.

"Yes, Dad," he told him tiredly, turning away from him. "I'm sure."

Isshin was still concerned about him but he, as much as he didn't want to, left, closing his bedroom door behind him, and made his way to his room. He placed the bag on the floor near his bed so he can just grab it in case his son needed him during the night. Then, he quickly changed into his pajamas. He then decides to check on Ichigo one last time before he went to bed. Isshin tip toed to back towards Ichigo's room. He opened the door and peeked in one last time. He saw a sleeping Ichigo, his face tinged red from his fever, now facing his closet and quietly coughing a bit.

"Good night Ichigo," Isshin whispered.

Then, he closed Ichigo's bedroom door and went back to his own. He left his door open a crack just in case Ichigo or one of the girls needed him. Worry coursed through his veins as he laid down to go to sleep.

'I hope he'll be ok,' Isshin thought to himself before closing his eyes and falling into a worried sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing**

Isshin tiredly sighed when he looked over at his clock. Last night, he had gotten very little sleep because of his worry for his only son. Throughout the night, Isshin would wake up and check on Ichigo. His son would be the same each time, asleep but a cough or two would escape his lips. Now, it was five thirty in the morning and the lack of sleep could be seen on the doctor's face.

Yawning, Isshin pulled himself out of bed and got himself ready for the day. Once he finished, he immediately went to Ichigo's room. He found the teenager was sitting up in bed, having a coughing fit. Isshin rushed over to him and rubbed his back until he stopped coughing.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, pushing back some of Ichigo's hair and feeling his forehead.

"Fine," Ichigo answered gruffly, pushing his father's hand away. "I'm fine."

Isshin frowned.

"I beg to differ," he said, reaching over for the thermometer and turning it on. "You still feel very warm. Open up and stick this under your tongue."

Ichigo grumbled but grabbed the thermometer and stuck it under his tongue before laying back down. He knew that his father wasn't going to leave him alone so he just went along with it. He kept his focus on the thermometer, frowning in irritation as the numbers climbed higher and higher.

"This is stupid," Ichigo muttered around the thermometer. "I _feel_ fine."

"Ichigo, you can't talk while the thermometer is in your mouth," Isshin scolded, sighing as he took the thermometer out of his son's mouth, reset it and then placing it back under Ichigo's tongue, holding it there.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and glared at Isshin all the while his temperature was being taken. Soon, the thermometer beeped and Isshin pulled the thermometer out of his mouth, frowning deeply with concern at the result.

"Your temperature is at 38.94⁰C Ichigo," he told him. "We'll need to keep a close watch on it. You'll have to go to the hospital if we're not careful."

Ichigo growled a little in annoyance, causing him to sit up and cough. Isshin, once more, rubbed his back until the coughing stopped.

"I want you to try and get some more rest," Isshin gently told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's still pretty early in the morning and your body needs as much sleep as possible."

The orange haired teen pushed his father's hand off of him and glared.

"I'm fine," he snapped. "I don't need to rest. What I need is to go to school."

Isshin, used to Ichigo's temper, gently shushed him and tried to get him to lie back down but the teenager wasn't having any of it.

"Don't shush me!" he shouted, pushing the hand that was pushing him down away from him.

That caused him to cough some more. Isshin frowned and got Ichigo to lay down while his coughing fit was ending.

"Get some sleep," he ordered, his hands gently pushing on Ichigo's shoulders. "I'll be back with your breakfast in a little bit and after you eat, I'll check your vitals and you can take your medicine."

"No!" Ichigo exclaimed, pushing his covers away and trying to get up. "I'm going to school today Goat face and that's final!"

Then, he used the strength that he had to push his father away from him, which wasn't very far, before attempting to get up. Unfortunately, he rolled out of bed, falling to the floor with a dull thud. Gasping, Isshin quickly went over to him and looked for any injuries.

"Stop!" Ichigo shouted hoarsely before going into yet another coughing fit.

At this point, his father was reaching his breaking point with his son's rudeness and stubbornness. While he was coughing, Isshin helped him up and got him back into his bed, covering him with his blanket.

"You're too sick to go to school today, Ichigo," Isshin told him firmly once Ichigo's coughing fit had passed. "You are going to stay in bed and get the rest you need."

The teen opened his mouth to speak but his father interrupted him.

"No, I'm not going to argue with you," he continued in a stern voice. "You are going to stay in bed. You may read, watch TV, play video games, sleep or anything else that doesn't require you to leave this bed."

"Dad…" Ichigo started.

"You. Need. To. Rest," Isshin interrupted him again. "Ichigo, the flu can get serious really fast and I don't want to have end up taking you to the hospital."

Ichigo froze.

He had a deep fear of hospitals and liked to stay as far away from them as possible despite his father being a doctor.

"We can easily prevent that by you staying in bed, getting some rest and taking your medicine," Isshin continued on. "Now, I'll be back later with your breakfast. After you eat, I'll check your vitals and you can take your medicine. Ok?"

Ichigo inwardly sighed. He really didn't want to be stuck in bed while there were other things he can and should be doing but he knew that if he somehow managed to sneak out of the house without his father knowing, he would be in big trouble with him later. It would be better to not risk it.

"Yes Dad," Ichigo answered hoarsely, nodding a little.

Isshin nodded a little as well.

"Good," he said, putting a hand on his son's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Now, get some sleep."

Ichigo huffed but nodded again before relaxing in bed. Approving the action, the older Kurosaki leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead before turning around and making his way towards Ichigo's doorway. He paused at the door and turned back to his son.

"Sleep well," he whispered.

Ichigo turned onto his left side, looking at his father with tired eyes.

"Night," he whispered back.

Then, the orange haired teen closed his eyes, almost immediately falling asleep. Isshin gave the sleeping boy a concerned smile.

'I need to keep a close eye on that temperature of his,' he thought. 'And I need to make sure he gets his rest. Even sick that boy is stubborn.'

Isshin sighed.

"I guess I better get started on breakfast," he muttered to himself, "since I'm awake and the girls won't be awake for another half an hour."

He closed Ichigo's bedroom door behind him before making his way downstairs to the kitchen. The Kurosaki patriarch went over to the fridge and took out six eggs, two for each of his kids, and a stick of butter. He then placed them on the counter and went into the cabinets for a frying pan. Once he got out the frying pan, he cut off some of the butter and placed it in the pan. Then, he placed the pan on the stove and turned it on, waiting for the pan to heat up. While that was going on, Isshin took out the bread for toast for Ichigo and some bacon for the girls. Next, he took out a baking sheet and some tin foil, putting the tin foil on the baking sheet. Then, he placed the bacon on the baking sheet and turned the oven on. At this point, the pan was hot enough to cook in so Isshin took out the first set of eggs and cracked them into the pan. While the eggs cooked, Isshin placed the bacon into the oven for them to cook. For the next ten minutes, Isshin cooked the eggs for the girls while waiting for the bacon. Soon the bacon was done as well and while the doctor plated the completed eggs and bacon, Karin came downstairs.

"Hmm, it smells good in here," she said. "Bacon and eggs?"

Isshin turned around and smiled brightly at her, despite his worry for his son.

"Yep!" he said, grinning. "Good old bacon and eggs! I also plan on making toast!"

"I can do that," said Yuzu, his other daughter, who just came in. "Yum! Bacon and eggs."

Then, she went to the loaf of bread Isshin had taken out earlier and took out two slices, one for her and Karin.

"You want a piece Dad?" she asked, picking up a slice of bread intended for him.

Isshin shook his head.

"No thank you sweetie," he said. "I'm content with just my cup of coffee and granola bar."

"Ok," she said, putting the piece down and placing the two pieces she took out earlier and placing them in the toaster. "I'll make it for Ichigo when he comes down."

"Actually Yuzu," said Isshin, "Ichigo is sick so he won't be going to school today."

Yuzu gasped while Karin's eyes widened.

"Is he ok?" Yuzu asked worriedly.

Isshin nodded and gave her a reassuring smile.

"He'll be just fine," he told her, going over to his daughter and patting her head. "If he stays put in bed and gets plenty of rest, he'll be better in no time."

Karin scoffed.

"Yeah, we all know that's not going to happen," she said, rolling her eyes.

Yuzu gasped again and glared at her twin.

"Karin!" she exclaimed. "Don't say that!"

The black haired girl shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm just saying from past experience," she said. "Last time Ichigo was sick, we had to have traps all around the house and someone sitting by him the entire time to keep him from escaping."

Yuzu winced a little.

"That's true," she admitted. "But he was eleven at the time. He's grown up since then!"

Karin rolled her eyes again.

"Still stubborn though," she muttered.

Isshin chuckled a little at that.

"He is pretty stubborn," he said. "Like his old man."

Karin glared at Isshin.

"In this case, it isn't good," she snapped at him.

Yuzu looked at him as well with a scolding look.

"She's right," she said. "Ichigo could make himself worse."

Isshin saw the worry in their eyes as they spoke to each other.

"That's right," he agreed with a nod, looking at both of his daughters. "But it also means that he won't let the sickness beat him."

The twins looked at each other before looking back at their father, concern on their faces.

"He'll be fine," he told them reassuringly.

Then, he kneeled down in front of Yuzu and beckoned Karin over. Once she was close enough, he pulled both of them into a hug. They hugged him back tightly. They stayed that way for a little bit before Isshin let them go.

"Ichigo will be just fine," he told them again. "And I know that you two will also help me make sure he stays in bed and gets some rest."

The twins nodded, accepting the challenge. Then, Isshin stood up.

"Ok," he said. "Now, let's eat some breakfast before it gets cold."

 **Author's note: I'm not super proud of this chapter. I was wondering if you awesome readers liked this chapter. If you didn't, why? What can I improve on or what should I add. Thank you.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing**

The girls hardly ate their breakfast before leaving for school. Not that he blamed them.

'They're worried about their brother,' Isshin thought after they left the clinic. 'And so am I.'

Then, he went over to the kitchen and picked up the last two eggs, cracking them into a measuring cup and stirring them before pouring them into the pan. While the eggs cooked, Isshin put in a piece of bread into the toaster. Soon Ichigo's breakfast was made and Isshin placed the plate full of eggs and toast on a tray with a glass of orange juice. He picked up the tray and headed upstairs to Ichigo's room. He found the teenager sitting up in bed, reading a book. Ichigo turned towards his father.

"I'm not hungry," he told him, turning back to his book and letting out a couple of coughs. "You can have it."

The worry began to drench the black haired man. Ichigo usually has a big appetite.

'That's not a good sign,' the father thought. 'He must be sick if he doesn't have an appetite.'

Isshin shook his head, not letting his worry and concern show.

"Sorry Ichigo," he said, walking over to him. "You've got to eat."

He sat down next to his son, gently removing the book from his grasp and placing the tray in front of him.

"Eat," Isshin ordered.

The orange haired boy glared at his father.

"I'm not…" he started.

The older Kurosaki stopped him.

"No," he said. "You need your strength so you need to eat."

Then, Isshin stood up.

"I'll be back in a minute," he continued. "When I get back, I expect to see you eating your breakfast."

"Dad…" Ichigo started again.

"Ichigo Tsukiya Kurosaki," Isshin responded in a stern tone, raising an eyebrow.

The teenager closed his mouth but glared at him. His father kept his gaze locked with his son's. Finally, the fifteen-year-old huffed.

"Fine," he said, coughing a little bit.

Isshin nodded.

"I'll be back in a minute," he repeated before leaving Ichigo's room.

Once his father left the room, Ichigo snorted in his direction before coughing again.

"This is stupid," he muttered, picking up the fork and stabbing the eggs in front of him. "I'm not even hungry and Goat Face is forcing me to eat."

He put the fork full of eggs into his mouth, chewing in irritation, while he watched the door for his father to return. Soon, Isshin came back with his doctor's bag and sat back down next to him. Ichigo took another bite of his breakfast as he watched Isshin took out his stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, pen light and tongue depressor.

"Once you are done eating, I'll check your vitals," he told him, putting the instruments on Ichigo's bed.

Ichigo swallowed the food in his mouth before responding.

"This is bullshit," he told him. "I am fine. My vitals or whatever are fine. I'm _fine_."

Then, the teenager all but placed the fork on the tray and shoved it away from him, luckily not spilling anything. Isshin sighed at this.

"You're acting like a child Ichigo," he told him, picking up his son's left wrist and taking his pulse and respiration rate. "You need to stop that right now and calm down."

The teenager huffed at him for the scolding but stayed still while his father took his pulse. Once he was done, he let go of Ichigo's wrist.

"Your pulse and respiration rate have risen quite a bit," Isshin reported, picking up the stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. "But I'm going to chalk that up to you being worked up. I'll check again once you've settle down."

Isshin gently grabbed Ichigo's arm and wrapped the blood pressure cuff around him before placing the stethoscope in the crook of Ichigo's elbow. Then, he inflated the cuff and deflating it after waiting a bit.

"I'll have to check that again as well," he told him as he unwrapped the cuff and wrapped the stethoscope around his neck. "Now, how's your throat?"

Ichigo opened his mouth to speak.

"And be honest," Isshin added.

Then, he closed it.

"It still hurts a little," Ichigo admitted after a moment's hesitation.

Isshin frowned a little at that.

"Does it hurt more than yesterday?" his father asked as he picked up the tongue depressor and pen light.

Ichigo shook his head. Isshin turned on the pen light.

"Say 'ahh'," he ordered.

Ichigo coughed a couple of times before opening his mouth and letting his father peer inside his throat. After a little bit, Isshin turned off the pen light.

"Your throat is still pretty red but no strep," he said, putting the pen light away. "Now, let's listen to your lungs. Lift up your shirt."

Ichigo complied albeit begrudgingly, allowing Isshin to place the diaphragm of the stethoscope on his chest.

"Ok, breathe through your mouth," Isshin ordered again.

The orange haired teen did so. After listening for a little bit, his father took off the stethoscope.

"Your lungs still sound fine," he said.

Ichigo huffed as he pulled his shirt down.

"Then, I can go to school," he snapped at him, starting a coughing fit.

Isshin rubbed his back some more.

"Sorry bud," he said patiently, using Ichigo's nickname from when he was little. "You can't go to school. Like I said before, you're just too sick."

Once the coughing fit stopped, Isshin helped Ichigo to lay back down. Then, he pressed the back of his hand to Ichigo's forehead.

"What does my hand feel like?" he asked his son gently.

"Cold," the teenager muttered in a suddenly tired voice, closing his eyes.

"That's because you're burning up," he explained to his son, worried about how tired he got so quickly.

Isshin removed his hand and pushed some of Ichigo's hair back.

"Not burning up," Ichigo muttered again.

Isshin only shook his head, not wanting to argue with his son. Then, he picked up his son's wrist, deciding he was calm enough to take his pulse and respiration rate again. They were still higher than normal but the results were similar to last night's. It was the same for his blood pressure too. Then, Isshin packed up his medical equipment and placed the bag on the floor before picking up the tray of the hardly eaten food and started towards the door.

"Dad?" Ichigo asked, opening his eyes a little.

"Yes?" Isshin replied, looking over at the teenager.

"I wish I wasn't sick," he replied, finally admitting that he wasn't well at all.

Isshin felt real bad for Ichigo. He placed the tray down on the floor before going back to his bed ridden son and pushing back his hair again.

"I wish you weren't either," he whispered to him.

Then, he stood up.

"Hold on," Isshin said as he picked up the medicine bottle. "You need to take your medicine before you fall asleep. I'm sorry I didn't have you take it sooner."

"'S ok," Ichigo muttered, sitting up a little.

Isshin poured the medicine dose into the cup before handing it to his son, who downed it quickly.

"Can I have the orange juice?" Ichigo asked, coughing a little to get the taste out.

The black haired man nodded before going over to the tray and picking up the glass of orange juice. He brought it back over to Ichigo, who drank it all.

"Do you need anything?" Isshin asked as his son passed the glass back over to him.

"I just need to use the bathroom real fast," Ichigo said in a hoarse voice as he began to get out of bed.

Isshin nodded.

"Ok," he said. "I'll be downstairs making some calls if you need anything."

Ichigo was sitting on his bed, looking confused, as his father went back over to the tray and picked it up.

"What kind of calls?" the orange haired boy asked.

Although, he had a pretty good idea what those calls were going to be about.

"I just have to call all of my appointments and reschedule them," said Isshin before leaving the room.

Ichigo got up quickly and raced out to his father.

"Why do you need to reschedule them?" he asked.

Isshin, who stopped at the top of the stairs, turned around and looked at his son.

"I can't look after other patients while you're sick," he explained. "I won't be able to focus and I could make a grave mistake. I can't take that risk."

He turned back around to walk down the stairs when Ichigo stopped him again.

"But Dad," he said. "I'll be fine. Go and take care of your patients."

Isshin shook his head.

"Ichigo…" he started.

"No," Ichigo interrupted. "Dad, I'll be fine. Just run your clinic."

Isshin opened his mouth to speak but Ichigo continued.

"If you want, you can come and check up on me after each appointment," the teenager blurted out.

Ichigo personally didn't like the idea but if it kept his father from hovering over him all the time, he would take the chance. Isshin began to think about it.

'I don't know,' he thought. 'What if something happens to him? What if he needs me for something and can't reach me?'

The older Kurosaki thought about it for a while before sighing.

"Ok," he relented. "I'll go to work today."

Ichigo inwardly cheered.

"But, you _will_ expect me to come up and check on you after _every_ appointment," Isshin told him in a serious tone. "And if you need anything, text me."

Ichigo rolled his eyes but nodded.

"I mean it Ichigo Tsukiya Kurosaki," Isshin told him sternly when his son rolled his eyes. "If you anything, _anything at all_ , you text or call me."

Ichigo glared at his father.

"I will," he snapped before letting off a couple of coughs.

"Ok," said the black haired man with a nod. "Now, I'm going to clean the dishes and after I'm done, I'll come back up and check on you before my first appointment."

"Ok," said Ichigo, nodding.

Isshin walked over to him and placed a kiss on top of his head.

"Go get some rest," he ordered gently.

Then, Isshin left to go downstairs while Ichigo turned around to go to the bathroom. Once he was done, Ichigo went back to his room and decided to sleep instead of read.

"I hope I get better soon," he muttered before falling asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**I own nothing**

Ichigo wanted to scream.

His father kept his promise. Isshin had been coming up after _every_ appointment and checking up on him. The teenager honestly thought he would come up after every two or three appointments because he would get a little busy and forget one or two times. But no, Isshin came up after _every single_ appointment. Most of his appointments wouldn't last long since they weren't serious so this made Isshin's check-ups on Ichigo frequent. And annoying. The teenager wanted to kick himself for suggesting the idea to his crazy father.

Isshin had just checked on him and had him take his temperature yet again. Unfortunately, Ichigo's temperature had gone up to 39⁰C so his father made him take another dose of medicine and he fussed over him for a few minutes before going back down to the clinic, promising to see Ichigo in bit.

Ichigo wanted to scream.

In fact, he did.

And he did it into his pillow which caused him to go into a coughing fit. He coughed into his pillow for a little bit before removing the pillow and sitting up in bed, breathing fairly heavily.

"I got to do something," he breathed. "Before I go insane."

He reached over to his bedside table and grabbed his phone. He typed out text and sent it to the most sympathetic person he knew at this point. Karin.

 _I need your help! Dad is driving me crazy!_

Ichigo stared at his phone until his phone chimed.

 _How crazy?_

 _He's in Super-Overprotective-Dad-Who-Is-Also-A-Doctor mode. I was stupid enough to suggest that he could come up after every appointment and check up on me._

Ichigo waited a long time for a reply from his little sister.

 _That was very stupid! But what can I do?_

 _I DON'T KNOW! I just need your HELP! Do you think you can convince Dad to leave me alone for a little bit?_

Then, Ichigo's bedroom door opened, causing the teenager to look over. Isshin stuck his head in and looked over at his sick son.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

The orange haired teenager rolled his eyes.

"Same as I was twenty minutes ago," he replied hoarsely in an exasperated tone.

Isshin nodded.

"Ok," he said. "Just checking."

Then, he closed his door.

"You're always 'just checking'," Ichigo muttered.

Then, his phone chimed. He picked up his phone and read the text.

 _Sorry. Not when he's in that state. You're on your own there._

Ichigo groaned loudly at the reply which caused him to go into a coughing fit. Once he stopped coughing, he glared at the phone.

"Some help you are," he muttered.

Then, he flopped back onto his bed and picked up his book, deciding to attempt to read some more. He got fifteen minutes of peace before Isshin came up and looked in on him.

"Still ok?" he asked.

"Yes," Ichigo replied grumpily, putting his book down.

Isshin nodded.

"Alright," he said. "After this next appointment, I'm going to make lunch. Do you want rice porridge or soup?"

Ichigo made a face. He didn't want either of them. While they're both good, he just wasn't in the mood for either of them.

"Can I have a sandwich instead?" he asked.

Isshin shook his head.

"You need to eat something that will be easy on your stomach," he told him. "So, soup or porridge?"

Ichigo sighed.

"Soup, I guess," he answered, coughing a little.

Isshin nodded again.

"Ok," said the black haired man. "I'll see you in a little bit for lunch."

"See you then," said Ichigo as he picked up his book, intending to read.

Then, Isshin left the room. Ichigo looked over at his door after his father left before turning back to his book.

"I just hope I feel hungry by then," he muttered.

Ichigo continued to read to pass the time while he waited for lunchtime to roll around. Before he knew it, it was time for lunch and his father had entered his room with a tray of food for him.

"Here we go," said Isshin, placing the tray in front of the orange haired teen. "One bowl of warm miso soup."

He wasn't feeling very hungry but Ichigo pulled the tray towards him none the less.

"Thank you," he told his father.

"My pleasure," Isshin replied, sitting down next to his son. "How are you feeling?"

Isshin then placed the back of his hand on Ichigo's still burning forehead while his son lifted the spoon full of soup up to his mouth.

"Fine," the teenager replied, taking a bite of the soup and pushing his father's hand away.

His father sighed a little at the reply. His son always says he's fine even when he isn't.

"How's your cough?" he asked.

"Just like any other cough, I guess," Ichigo answered albeit confused before taking another bite of soup. "It's a cough and it's annoying."

Then, he began to cough. Isshin rubbed his back until Ichigo's coughing fit had passed.

"See?" said the teenager. "Just like any other cough."

"Still," said Isshin, putting a hand on his son's shoulder and squeezing it. "I just need to make sure it isn't causing too much of a problem."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and looked back down at his bowl of soup, feeling full. He had only taken about four bites but he didn't want to eat anymore.

'Dad will worry,' Ichigo thought as he placed his spoon back into the bowl. 'But I just can't eat anymore.'

"I'm full," the orange haired teenager announced, pushing the tray away.

Isshin gave him a concerned look.

"You sure?" he asked. "You didn't eat very much."

The teenager nodded.

"I'm sure."

Isshin frowned.

"Ichigo, you not having an appetite concerns me," his father told him in a worried tone. "You hardly ate breakfast and now you haven't even made a small dent in lunch. I'm wondering if I should take you to the hospital for a second opinion."

Ichigo's eyes widened.

"No!" he exclaimed. "No hospitals! I'm just not hungry is all."

Then, a coughing fit started as a result of his raised voice. It lasted for quite a bit before Ichigo stopped.

"Ok," said Isshin, in Doctor mode now. "Let's get your temperature and then I think it's best you get some rest."

He moved the tray and got Ichigo to lay down. Ichigo didn't put up much of a fight which also concerned the older Kurosaki. Then, he picked up the thermometer, turning it on, and stuck it under the teenager's tongue. Isshin placed the back of his hand on his son's forehead again, trying gauge if it rose anymore. Thankfully, Ichigo's temperature hadn't rose but it still sat at a worrying 39⁰C.

"Well, I can't give you more medicine just yet," Isshin told his son as he placed the thermometer back on Ichigo's bedside table. "Maybe your fever will drop after you get some sleep."

"I'm not tired," the teenager protested, trying to sit up.

Isshin stopped him.

"Sleep is what's best for you right now," he told him, gently pushing him back down. "Take a bit of a nap and we'll see how you're feeling afterwards."

"I'm fine," Ichigo protested again, trying to sit up again while coughing a little.

"You need to settle down," said Isshin soothingly. "Come on now. Lay down."

Ichigo laid back down and turned onto his side. Isshin then decided to rub his son's back.

"I'm fine," Ichigo murmured, his eyes closing.

"Just get some sleep," Isshin murmured back.

Isshin continued to rub Ichigo's back until his son had fallen asleep. Once the orange haired teenager was sleeping, Isshin stood up, picked up the tray and went back downstairs.

Isshin worried about his son throughout the afternoon. Each time he went up to check on him, Ichigo would be fast asleep, coughing a little.

The Kurosaki patriarch went upstairs one more time before his last appointment and checked on Ichigo. The teenager was still fast asleep in the position he was in when he first fell asleep, getting his much needed rest. Isshin went over to his son and placed the back of his hand on his forehead. Worry drenched the man when he still felt the warmth coming from his only son's forehead. He brushed back some of his son's hair before leaving his room.

He went downstairs to the clinic and looked over at lady and young boy who were sitting in the chairs, reading a magazine together.

"You may come in now," he told him.

The lady looked up at him before turning towards her child and giving him a small smile. The boy, who appeared to be about six, got up and slowly walked towards him, his mother following. Isshin opened up the door and let them in. Then, he led them to an examination room and opened the door for them. They entered and the boy's mother helped him up onto the exam table while Isshin grabbed a rolling chair and sat down in it.

"Ok," Isshin started gently, facing the boy. "What seems to be the problem?"

The boy looked over nervously at his mother. She nodded at him, encouraging him to speak.

"My head and tummy hurt," he spoke nervously. "I cough too."

Isshin nodded.

"And he's had a temperature of 38.3⁰C since this morning," the mother added.

Isshin nodded again.

'It sounds similar to Ichigo,' he thought to himself.

"Well," said the doctor, straightening up. "I have an idea on what's the problem. But let me exam you just to be sure."

The boy nodded nervously. Isshin noticed that the mother was looking nervous too. So, he smiled comfortingly before examining the boy.

"It's just a case of the flu," Isshin announced after he examined the boy.

The child gave him a confused look while the mother still looked nervous.

"You'll have to stay home for a week," Isshin told the boy. "And you'll have to take it easy."

"Can I play with my toys?" the boy asked.

"That's up to your mother," the doctor told him. "But I think as long as you're playing quietly, you can play with your toys."

The boy smiled at that.

Isshin smiled back.

"Now," he said, "outside this door is a roll of stickers. You can choose three."

He helped the boy down and opened the door for him. The boy went over to the stickers, coughing a little. The mother stood up after he went into the hallway.

"Thank you Doctor," she told him.

"It's no trouble at all," he replied to her gently.

"Doctor Kurosaki, can I ask you a question?" she asked, looking over at her son.

Isshin nodded.

"Of course," he said, smiling at her. "Ask away."

"How do you stay calm?" she asked, turning back towards him. "With children I mean. How do keep yourself calm when your children are sick?"

'This might be her first sick visit with her child,' Isshin thought to himself.

"I'm guessing this is the first time your son got sick enough to have to go to the doctor?" Isshin questioned gently.

The lady nodded as her son came back with his three stickers.

"Well, with children, you have to realize that when you're nervous, they get nervous too," Isshin explained. "They can sense what you're feeling so it's important to stay calm. But how you calm yourself down is different for everyone. When my kids were sick, especially when they were as young as yours, what I would do to calm myself down is sit with them and do their favorite quiet activity with them. It made me feel better because I was with them and if they needed me for something, I would be right there. You can that out if you want."

The mother smiled a little.

"I will try that," said the boy's mother, putting her hands on her son's shoulders. "Thank you so much Doctor Kurosaki."

"You're welcome," Isshin replied, smiling back at her. "Oh, to help your son feel better, have him take this every couple of hours."

The black haired man went over and wrote out a prescription for the boy. Once he was done, he handed the piece of paper to the boy's mother. The lady and her child thanked him before paying and leaving the clinic.

After they left, Isshin closed the clinic and made his way towards the kitchen. Once he got there, he looked around.

"Well, I better get started on dinner," he muttered.

Then, he went to the fridge to decide what to make.

 **Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I was having a hard time writing this and I thought about redoing this many times. If you think I should, let me know. And any constructive criticism will be very helpful.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I own nothing**

Isshin was finishing up a fish stew for dinner when Yuzu and Karin returned from home school.

"Dad, we're home," Karin called.

The black haired man turned around and gave them a smile.

"How was school?" he asked, turning back towards the food.

The twins looked at each other and shrugged.

"It was ok, I guess," Karin answered, well, mumbled.

"How's Ichi?" Yuzu asked in worried tone.

Isshin turned off the stove before turning back around towards his girls. They had worried and concerned expressions on their faces.

"I'm not going to lie to you," he told them seriously. "His temperature has risen and he doesn't have much of an appetite. His cough and throat are still bugging him as well. But he's asleep right now, resting."

Yuzu had tears of worry in her eyes while Karin looked even more concerned.

"Will he get better?" Yuzu asked.

"We just need to keep an eye on him," was all he told her. "Now, Yuzu, I want you to plate the food. Karin, you go upstairs and wake up Ichigo."

"No need. I'm already awake," a hoarse voice called.

The three other Kurosaki family members looked over at the stairs and saw Ichigo walking slowly down the stairs. Isshin moved over to him.

"You should be in bed," he told him gently, taking hold of his upper arm to steady him.

Ichigo shook his head.

"I'm tired of being in bed," he responded, pushing his father's hand away. "I actually got up to go to the bathroom and when I came out, I heard you guys talking so I came down to see what was going on."

Ichigo continued to walk down the stairs. Once at the bottom, his sisters raced over to meet him and grabbed his arms, ready to steady him if need be.

"Ichigo, you shouldn't be walking around," Yuzu scolded, frowning at him.

"Yeah," added her twin, also frowning up at him. "Your fever will get worse."

Then, they pulled at their brother's arms and pulled him towards the kitchen table. Karin forced him into a chair while Yuzu went over to the pot of stew and made him a bowl. She grabbed him a spoon before bringing the bowl over to Ichigo and placing it in front of him.

"Eat," the light brown haired girl ordered, crossing her arms.

She looked just like a mom. The teenager would've laughed and argued if he was healthy. Instead, Ichigo coughed a few times before picking up the spoon, not really wanting to fight, and taking a bite of his stew. This worried his father. If he was well or on his way to getting well, Ichigo would have argued with his sister. So, Isshin went over and sat down next to Ichigo. Then, he placed the back of his hand on his son's forehead.

"Oh Ichigo," he said with great concern, removing his hand. "I think you are getting worse. I'm going to call the hospital and get you an appointment for tomorrow."

The teenager looked over at him, a scared look on his face.

"No!" Ichigo exclaimed, his hoarse voice cracking.

Then, he began to have a coughing fit. Isshin leaned over and rubbed his back while the twins watched worriedly. Once the coughing fit stopped, Isshin got up and made his son a glass of water. He handed it to Ichigo, who quickly gulped it down.

"No hospitals," said Ichigo, breathing heavily.

Isshin shook his head.

"This isn't a negotiation," he told him as he got up and went to the phone. "You are going to the hospital tomorrow and getting checked out."

He picked up the phone and dialed the number for the hospital. While he was making his son a doctor's appointment, Ichigo glared at him.

"Quit glaring at Dad and eat, Ichigo," Karin snapped.

The orange haired teenager whipped his head over to his little sister.

"But I don't want to go to the hospital," he protested.

Yuzu laid a hand on her brother's shoulder.

"But you need to Ichi," she said gently. "Now, eat. You'll feel better."

Then, she pushed the bowl closer to him. Ichigo sighed and began to eat, despite not being as hungry as he usually is. He had eaten a couple of bites before he noticed that the rest of his family was staring at him. He glared at them.

"I know I'm sick and all," he said in an annoyed tone, "but do you really have to watch me eat?"

"With the kind of appetite you've been having today, I'm going to make sure you eat something," said Isshin, frowning at him. "You hardly touched anything all day."

Ichigo sighed and pushed away his bowl.

"Well, It's creepy to have someone stare at you while you eat," Ichigo snapped.

Then, he began to cough some more. Once he stopped, Isshin grabbed the bowl and spoon.

"Are you feeling nauseous?" Isshin asked.

Ichigo gave him a confused look but shook his head.

"No," he answered. "But I'm not really hungry either."

His father sighed. He was afraid of that. He scooped up a spoonful of the fish stew and offered it to Ichigo. The teenager moved his head away from the spoon.

"What are you doing?" he snapped.

"You need to eat," the black haired man told him gently, moving the spoon closer to him. "Come on now."

The orange haired teenager scowled at him.

"I'm not a baby!" he snapped.

Isshin took that chance and stuck the spoon into Ichigo's mouth. Ichigo swallowed the stew before grabbing the spoon and snatching it away from his father. The older man raised his hands in surrender.

"Ok, ok," he said gently. "Take it easy."

The orange haired teenager slammed the spoon onto the table before standing up.

"Just leave me alone, damn it!" Ichigo snapped before stomping towards the stairs.

Then, once he reached the stairs, he collapsed in a coughing fit. Yuzu gasped while Karin yelled her brother's name. Isshin raced over and placed the back of his hand on his son's forehead.

"Let's get you back to bed," he told him.

Then, he helped a still coughing Ichigo up before picking him up bridal style. He walked up the stairs, the girls following, and back towards his son's bed room. Once there, Isshin placed Ichigo on his bed before covering him with his blanket and giving his shoulder a slight squeeze while waiting for the coughing fit to dissipate. Soon, it did and Ichigo was breathing heavily.

"You need to settle down," he told him, placing his hand on his son's chest.

Isshin could feel Ichigo's chest quickly rising and falling, getting the oxygen that he needs, but he wasn't struggling, which was relieving to his father. The teenager nodded tiredly before weakly pushing his father's hand away.

"I am calm," Ichigo told him, his breathing slowly going back to normal.

Isshin nodded before picking up the thermometer and sticking it under Ichigo's tongue.

"Just relax," he gently ordered. "I'll be right back with a cool towel."

Then, the older man straightened up before leaving to go get the cold cloth. Karin and Yuzu went over to their brother's bed, Yuzu sitting down next to him. She felt his forehead.

"Wow, Ichi," she whispered worriedly, removing her hand. "You're burning up."

Ichigo, not really in the mood to hear any more about his fever, groaned and shifted his position.

"It's nothing to worry about," he spoke around the thermometer.

The black haired twin frowned.

"Quit downplaying it!" Karin snapped at him. "It is something to worry about if you're running a high temperature."

The light brown haired twin frowned at her sister.

"Karin, don't snap at him," she told her. "He's sick. He shouldn't be yelled at."

Karin turned back to her.

"Well, he shouldn't tell us to not worry when it's clearly something to worry about," she responded.

Ichigo sighed while his sisters argued.

"It's nothing," he muttered.

Suddenly, the thermometer began to beep. Isshin came back at that moment with the wet cloth and placed it on top of Ichigo's forehead before taking the instrument out of his mouth.

"Girls," the father of the three warned, giving them a look before looking at the results on the thermometer.

Surprisingly, Ichigo's temperature hadn't gone up like Isshin originally thought. Instead, it had gone down but not by much.

"38.83⁰C," Isshin read, shaking the thermometer. "Well, at least your temperature dropped a little."

Then, he placed the thermometer on the bedside table and placed the back of his hand on his son's cheek for a little bit before removing it.

"But I wish it was gone," Karin piped up.

"We all do," Yuzu added.

The orange haired teen nodded as well, looking over at his father.

"Especially me," Ichigo hoarsely spoke up, staying quiet until now.

"Well, if you want to get better, Ichigo," said Isshin, looking at his son, "you need to get some more rest. Come on girls. Let's give Ichigo some peace and quiet."

He started towards the door and was going to leave but noticed that there weren't any footsteps behind him. Isshin turned around and saw that the girls were still standing around Ichigo's bed. They were watching him with concern in their eyes.

"Yuzu, Karin," said Isshin with a sigh, walking back over to them. "Come on now. Ichigo needs to rest."

"For your information Old Man," Ichigo snapped, sitting up in bed and ignoring the wet cloth falling into his lap, "I am resting. I'm not moving aren't I? Isn't that what resting is? Not moving around?"

Isshin frowned at Ichigo.

"You need to watch your attitude with me, young man," Isshin warned before nodding. "But yes, that is what resting is. However, it also means getting sleep."

The orange haired teen rolled his eyes and groaned before falling back onto his bed.

"I've been sleeping all freaking day!" the teen complained. "I don't want to sleep anymore!"

"I know you don't want to sleep anymore," his father told him. "But it will help in the long run."

Ichigo glared at him.

"Dad's right Ichi," Yuzu spoke. "You'll get better quicker if you sleep."

"But I don't want to sleep now!" Ichigo snapped, looking at the light brown haired girl.

"You do realize that you sound like a child right now Ichigo," Karin added in an annoyed tone.

Ichigo turned and fixed his glare on his little sister.

"Oh shut up!" the teen snapped once more, sitting up again. "If you were in my position, you would be doing the same thing!"

Isshin gave his oldest child a sharp glare.

"Ichigo Tsukiya Kurosaki, don't you dare speak to your sisters like that!" Isshin snapped, causing the boy to look over at him with his eyes wide.

The twin girls were also looking at Isshin with wide eyes. The patriarch wasn't surprised by the reactions of his children. It was extremely rare for him to get like this.

"Now," said Isshin to Ichigo, "you will apologize to the girls and then you _will_ stop this disrespectful attitude this instant. I understand that you don't like being sick and stuck in bed all day. Nobody does. But that doesn't excuse your attitude with me and your sisters."

Ichigo winced. He had been treating his family badly. They were just trying to help him feel better and all he's been doing is snapping at them and not even thanking them. The orange haired teen turned towards his sisters.

"I'm sorry Yuzu, Karin," Ichigo apologized, looking at his sisters with a sorry look on his face. "I shouldn't have treated you guys the way I have been."

Then, he turned towards his father.

"And I'm sorry too Dad. I know that you're trying to help too."

Isshin gave him a small smile and smoothed back some of the teen's hair.

"It's alright Ichigo," he told him. "I know you're sorry."

"And we forgive you too," Yuzu added, smiling, before looking at her sister. "Right Karin?"

The black haired girl nodded.

"Yeah, we forgive you Ichi," she said.

Knowing that he was forgiven, Ichigo gave them a small smile as well.

"Now, Ichigo," said Isshin, getting the boy's attention, "Going back to the matter at hand, I want you to try to eat some more and get some more rest. So I have a couple of options."

Ichigo frowned but nodded, knowing he won't like either of the options.

"You can either eat some more of your dinner and then take a bit of a nap," Isshin continued, "or you can take a small nap now and eat later."

Ichigo winced at the thought of sleeping some more.

"How long would this 'nap' last?" the teenager asked.

Isshin shrugged.

"About an hour but that's if you don't want to sleep more," he said.

Ichigo made a face.

"Is there another option that doesn't involving me sleeping more?"

Isshin shook his head.

"Nope, sorry bud," he said.

Ichigo groaned a little.

"Ok," he muttered. "I guess I'll eat first."

To him, it was better to not fight with his father and just do what he was asked to do.

"Ok," said Isshin, smoothing back some more of Ichigo's hair. "I'll go heat up the stew and bring it up for you."

"And we can keep you company while you eat," Yuzu added.

The orange haired teen's eyes widened a little but he nodded.

"I would like that," said Ichigo with a smile.

Isshin smiled.

"I'll go get your stew," he said.

Then, he left to get the food.

 **Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If there is anything you awesome readers think I should add or improve on, please let me know. Thank you.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I own nothing**

Ichigo groaned a little when his alarm clock went off to let him know that his one-hour nap was up.

After his father brought up his stew, he brought up his own and his sisters and they just talked while they ate, like they were at the dinner table instead of Ichigo's bedroom. Once they were done eating, Isshin ushered the girls out and had Ichigo take his nap. The teen didn't want to but he also didn't want to fight with his father so he complied.

Ichigo sat up in bed, the wet cloth that Isshin placed back on his forehead falling off again, and stretched before getting up out of bed and heading to the bathroom. Once he was done, he was going to make his way back to his room when he saw that Yuzu's bed room door was open.

'I wonder what she's doing,' the teen thought to himself.

He went over to her door and knocked on it.

"Come in," came her voice.

Ichigo entered her room and found her sitting at her desk, working homework.

"Math work?" he asked, his voice still hoarse, while walking over to her.

Despite being good at cooking, math wasn't her best subject. Yuzu looked up at her older brother.

"Yeah, and I can't seem to figure out what I did wrong here," she said, pointing at the math problem she was working on.

Ichigo frowned a little and looked over her shoulder at the problem. He scanned the problem, looking for any mistakes. Soon, he pointed at a part of the problem.

"You multiplied this number wrong," he told her.

Yuzu looked at where he was pointing and frowned for a little bit before smiling.

"Oh, I get it now," she said, quickly fixing her mistake.

After she did, she turned towards her brother.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" she asked.

Ichigo frowned.

"Not you too," he said. "I just slept for an hour and have been sleeping off and on all day. I'm going to spend some of my free time out of my room."

Yuzu frowned back and was going to say something when Karin walked in.

"Hey, I just wanted to know if you started on chapter…" she started, slowly trailing off when she saw her brother. "You better get back to bed before Dad finds you missing."

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"He's not going to find out that I've gotten up."

Karin opened her mouth to reply when they heard some footsteps and a familiar voice.

"Ichigo, time for your medicine."

'Speak of the devil and he shall appear,' Ichigo thought to himself, wincing as he did so.

The girls looked at each other with a knowing expression on their faces before giving him a look that says 'you were saying?'.

"He will when he goes into your room to give you your medicine and you aren't there," said Karin, raising an eyebrow.

"Shit!" Ichigo muttered, sighing a little, a cough escaping his lips. "That's just great."

Then, he rushed out of Yuzu's room and into his, jumping back into his bed. He got back under his covers just in time. His father entered his room with a bottle of water in on hand and his medical bag in the other.

"How are you feeling?" Isshin asked, handing his son the water bottle.

"Fine," Ichigo answered, opening the bottle and taking a drink. "Just fine."

Then, Isshin sat down next to Ichigo and reached for the medicine bottle on his son's bedside table. He poured the correct dose into the cap before handing it to him.

"After you take your medicine, I want to take your vitals," Isshin told him.

Ichigo downed the medicine before drinking three big gulps of water.

"You don't need to take my vitals," said the teen in an annoyed tone as he handed the cap back to his father, who put it on the bottle and placed it on the bedside table.

"But I'm going to take them none the less," his father answered as he placed the bag on his right side and took out what he needed.

Ichigo frowned but said nothing and lifted his arm up so his father can take his wrist to take his pulse. Isshin took his son's wrist and began to take his pulse and respiration rate. After a little bit, he frowned.

"You were out of bed weren't you?" Isshin asked, sighing as he put Ichigo's wrist down. "And you ran to get back here?"

Ichigo, who was looking grumpy, looked at his father with wide eyes, letting off a couple of coughs.

'He got all of that from my pulse?' the teen first thought before mentally scolding himself. 'Of course he did. He's a doctor. He can tell the difference between pulse rates.'

"Ichigo," said the older man, trying to get his attention.

The teen shook his head to clear it.

"Uh…yeah," Ichigo admitted, looking away from him. "I did."

Isshin sighed again.

"Well, I'll check it again once you have rested for a little bit," he said as he picked up his stethoscope. "Let's have a listen to your lungs then."

"But my lungs are fine," Ichigo protested as his father stuck the ear pieces into his ears. "You've said it so many times."

"I'm just making sure you aren't developing a chest infection," his father reassured as he rubbed the diaphragm of the instrument. "Now, lift up your shirt."

The orange haired teen sighed but did what was asked of him. Isshin listened to his lungs and found them clear.

"Alright," said the older man as he grabbed the blood pressure cuff. "Your lungs are clear. Now, I'm going to take your blood pressure."

Ichigo silently offered his arm and let his father take his blood pressure. Then, Isshin retook his son's pulse and respiration rate. The results this time around were similar to the mornings' results.

"Now, let's take your temperature," said Isshin after he put away the blood pressure cuff and stethoscope.

He grabbed the thermometer and stuck it under his son's tongue. Ichigo glared at the thermometer before looking back at his father.

"Quit glaring at the thermometer," Isshin told him with a chuckle and smoothing back some of Ichigo's hair. "It didn't do anything to you."

The teen turned the glare towards his father before turning away from him in a bit of a huff. Soon, the thermometer beeped and Isshin took it out of his son's mouth.

"Still 38.83⁰C," said the black haired man, shaking the thermometer and putting it back on the bedside table. "I'm hoping for your temperature drop during the night."

"I hope so too," Ichigo muttered, letting off a couple of coughs.

Isshin squeezed his shoulder.

"It will eventually," he said. "But for now, just rest and relax."

Then, he got up and went over by the little TV that Ichigo has in room. He picked up the remote and showed it to him.

"You want to watch TV?" Isshin asked.

Ichigo shook his head.

"Not really," he answered.

His father nodded and placed the remote back where he found it.

"Ok," he said, going back over to him and sitting on the bed next to him. "Is there anything I can get you?"

Ichigo shook his head and grabbed his book.

"No, I'm ok," he said, opening it up and starting to read.

Isshin nodded again before smoothing back some more of his son's hair and standing up.

"Ok," he said. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

Ichigo made a 'hmmm' noise to let his father know that he heard him. Then, his father left, closing the door behind him. Ichigo looked up once he heard the door click shut and let out a sigh. Then, he let out a couple of rough coughs.

"This sucks," Ichigo muttered before laying back in bed.

Then, he picked up where he left off. He read his book for about twenty minutes when his bedroom door opened. Ichigo sat up, looked over and saw his sisters.

"Hey Ichi," said Yuzu, smiling a little as she walked over to him with her hands behind her back. "How are you feeling?"

"Um…I'm feeling fine," Ichigo answered, looking a little confused. "I was feeling fine when you saw me twenty minutes ago."

Then, Karin proceeded to walk over to her brother and sister.

"We were wondering if you're feeling well enough for company," she clarified.

The orange haired teen frowned.

"Yeah, I'm up to having company," he said, closing his book and putting it down. "Would be nice since I'm stuck here in bed because of our crazy father."

"Great!" Yuzu exclaimed. "Because I brought something for you!"

She pulled her hands from behind her back to reveal a book. It was an old book that Masaki, their mother, would read to them. Ichigo was still confused.

"You brought me the old book that Mom and I would read to you guys?" he asked.

"I just thought you would like this to be read to you," Yuzu explained. "Mom would read this to us when we were sick and you would do it after she…"

The light brown haired girl trailed off. Ichigo and Karin knew exactly what she was talking about. Yuzu shook her head.

"Anyway, I thought it would be nice if we read to you for a change," she continued.

Ichigo smiled. It would be nice to be read to like when he was little. He nodded.

"I would like that," he told her.

Yuzu and Karin brightened. Yuzu sat down in the rolling chair at Ichigo's desk while Karin sat down next to Ichigo on his bed.

"Ok Ichi," said Yuzu, opening up the book to the first chapter. "Just lay down and relax."

Karin gave her twin a weird look.

"He doesn't have to lay down if he doesn't want to," she told her.

"We had to lay down when Mom and Ichi read to us," said Yuzu, pouting at her twin.

Ichigo chuckled.

"It's ok, Karin," he said, laying down in his bed. "I'm more comfortable this way anyway."

Then, he let out a couple of coughs before turning towards Yuzu.

"Ok, I'm ready," he said.

Yuzu smiled brightly as she began to read. For the next hour and a half, Yuzu and Karin took turns reading chapters of the book to their brother. Once they were finished with the book, Karin, who read the last chapter, handed the book to Yuzu, who placed it on Ichigo's desk.

"I forgot how long that book was," Karin sighed, her voice slightly rough from reading aloud.

"But it was good," said Ichigo as he sat up in bed, coughing a little. "You both did a great job with reading it aloud."

Yuzu blushed but smiled.

"Karin did a better job," she told him. "She can do voices better than I can."

"I like the way you did the voices," said Karin. "I thought yours were better to be honest."

"Well, since my opinion is the only one that matters," Ichigo piped up, "I think that you both did a great job reading and I enjoyed the voices that you both did."

Then, Ichigo started to have a coughing fit.

"Ichigo!" Yuzu exclaimed, getting up and rushing towards him. "You need to lay down!"

Karin scooted over towards him and began to rub his back. Once his coughing began to die down, Yuzu and Karin gently pushed him down onto his bed.

"It's just a cough," he told them.

He eventually stopped coughing and was going to sit up but his sisters stopped him.

"You need to stay laying down," said Karin, holding his arms down.

"Yes Ichi," Yuzu added, pushing on his shoulders. "You need to lay down."

Ichigo didn't try to fight them. He relaxed and eventually the girls let go of his arms and shoulders.

"Maybe we should take his temperature," Yuzu said to her twin.

"We should," Karin agreed with a nod.

Then, the lighter haired twin picked up the thermometer and turned it on.

"You don't need to take my temperature," Ichigo protested.

"Shush Ichi," Karin said gruffly. "We need to make sure it didn't go up."

Yuzu stuck the thermometer under her brother's tongue and held it there.

"Why are you holding the thermometer?" Karin asked in annoyance. "He's perfectly capable of holding it under his tongue."

The lighter haired girl frowned at her twin.

"I'm just making sure the reading is accurate," she told her.

Ichigo rolled his eyes but wisely stayed silent.

"He's fifteen Yuzu," Karin answered in an exasperated tone.

"The reading could still be inaccurate," Yuzu countered.

Ichigo watched his sisters argue with amusement. While they argued, the thermometer beeped and the teen took it out of his mouth, after pushing Yuzu's hand away. Looking at the results, Ichigo shrugged and placed the thermometer back on his bedside table. He continued to watch his sisters argue. They argued for another five minutes when their father entered the room.

"What's going on in here?" Isshin asked loudly, getting the attention of the kids.

Yuzu blushed.

"Well, we were taking Ichi's temperature," she admitted. "But then we began to argue."

"It was kind of funny to be honest," Ichigo added.

"Either way," said Karin, shrugging her shoulders. "We tried to help make Ichigo feel better."

The light brown haired girl brightened.

"Yeah!" she said. "We read the book that Mom and Ichi would read to us when we were sick!"

Isshin smiled.

"Well, I'm sure it made Ichigo feel much better," he said, "and I thank you for helping out. But now, it's time for bed."

The girls nodded before they hugged their brother and father and left to get ready for bed. Isshin turned towards his son.

"What was your temperature?" he asked.

"Same as before," Ichigo answered, coughing a couple of times.

Isshin nodded, sighing a little. Then, he walked over to his son and felt his forehead before smoothing his hair back.

"You need to get ready for bed as well," he told him. "You need the sleep."

"But eight o'clock is too early," Ichigo protested. "It would be like if you asked Yuzu and Karin to go to bed at six."

"Well, you aren't going to stay up until eleven," Isshin told him firmly before softening. "Besides, a good night's sleep might bring your fever down."

Ichigo made a 'hmm' noise and shrugged his shoulders. Then, Ichigo's bedroom door opened and the heads of the twins popped in.

"Good night," they said in unison.

"Good night," Ichigo called out hoarsely.

"'Night girls," said Isshin, turning towards them with a smile. "Sleep well."

"You too," said Yuzu.

Then, they left to go to their rooms. Isshin turned back to his son.

"Go get yourself ready for bed," he ordered him. "I'll be back in a bit to check on you."

Ichigo frowned but nodded. Isshin left the room as Ichigo got up, went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. While the teen was brushing his teeth, he began to cough. He quickly spat out the tooth paste before he choked on it. He waited for the coughing fit to pass before getting a drink of water. Unfortunately, the cough came back and he choked on the water. Ichigo was quickly able to cough out the water and launched into another coughing fit. It took a couple of minutes but the coughing fit passed. Once it did, he finished brushing his teeth and went back to his room and into bed, suddenly not feeling so well.

"I don't want to be sick anymore," Ichigo muttered as he crawled under the covers.

He laid his head down on the soft pillow and immediately fell asleep. A little while later, Isshin came back to check on his son only to find him asleep. He walked over and placed the back of his hand on Ichigo's forehead.

"You're still really burning up," he whispered as he removed his hand. "I wish you were awake so I could give you some more medicine."

Isshin smoothed back more of the orange hair and placed a kiss on top of Ichigo's head. Then he tucked his son in before turning off the lights and leaving the room to let his son rest.

 **Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If there is anything I can improve on or you readers think I should add, please let me know.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I own nothing**

Isshin was busy when he got up the next morning.

Ichigo had his appointment at nine today and he needed to make sure they got there on time. So, he got the girls up and helped Yuzu make breakfast before making sure they got ready for school. After that, he sent them on their way. The older man still had a little over an hour and a half before the appointment so he let Ichigo sleep a little longer while he got himself ready. When Isshin was ready to go, he went upstairs to get Ichigo up. He found his son still asleep on his stomach, weak coughs escaping his lips. He went over to Ichigo and gently shook his shoulder.

"Ichigo," he said. "Ichigo, it's time to wake up."

The orange haired boy let out a couple of coughs before pushing himself up and looking over at his father.

"Leave me alone," he muttered hoarsely. "I want to sleep."

Then, he plopped back onto his bed and closed his eyes, attempting to fall back asleep. Isshin sighed and shook his shoulder again, only a little harder this time.

"I'm sorry but I need you to get up," he told him. "You need to brush your teeth and eat your breakfast before we go to the hospital."

Ichigo pushed himself up again and stared at his father with wide eyes filled with fear.

"No!" he whined. "I don't want to."

"I'm sorry Ichigo," said Isshin, giving him a sympathetic look. "But you have to. Now, come on. You need to get up and get ready."

The black haired man gave Ichigo's shoulder a squeeze before leaving to get the sick teen's breakfast ready. After he left, Ichigo groaned which caused a coughing fit. Once it passed, the teen got up out of bed and made his way towards the bathroom. He quickly brushed his teeth and was going to go back to his room to change when he decided against it.

"I'm not changing out of my pajamas," he muttered as he walked down the stairs, still in the clothes he slept in. "It's only a doctor's appointment."

Ichigo entered the kitchen and saw a plate with two pieces of toast and some orange juice sitting at his spot at the table. Isshin, who was washing the dishes, turned around and gave Ichigo a small smile.

"Hey," he said, walking over to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Ichigo answered quietly, coughing a little.

His father frowned and placed the back of his hand on Ichigo's forehead.

"Still pretty warm," he sighed, removing his hand. "Sit down and wait just a moment before eating your breakfast. I want to take your temperature."

Then, he left to go upstairs. Ichigo frowned at him while he went up the steps but went over to his spot and sat down. Not long after he did that, Isshin came back downstairs, thermometer in hand. He turned it on and went over to his sick son.

"Open up," the older man ordered.

Ichigo opened his mouth and let Isshin stick the thermometer under his tongue. After a little bit, the thermometer began to beep. The older Kurosaki took the instrument out of his son's mouth.

"39⁰C," he read, shaking the thermometer. "It went back up. That's not a good sign."

While he was speaking, Ichigo turned towards his breakfast, completely ignoring what his father was saying, and began to nibble on the toast. Not knowing that his son wasn't paying attention, Isshin continued to talk at him about what was going to happen that day.

"…And maybe we can get some food…" said Isshin, turning towards his son and noticing that he wasn't listening. "Ichigo…Ichigo….ICHIGO!"

Isshin shouted his son's name which caused him to jump. Ichigo started to cough when he turned and glared at his father.

"What the hell!" Ichigo snapped once he stopped coughing.

"You weren't listening," said Isshin, shrugging his shoulders. "I just said that after you eat, we'll head to the hospital. Then, if you're feeling up to it, we can get something to eat after your doctor's appointment."

The teenager shrugged before going back to nibbling on his toast. Isshin sighed but left the teen alone to eat. Soon, Ichigo was done eating, only getting through a quarter of one of the two pieces of toast and completely ignoring the other, which was worrying to Isshin. They left after that and made their way towards the hospital. It took them thirty minutes to get to the hospital and once there, Isshin guided a drowsy Ichigo inside. He had Ichigo sit down in one of the chairs before going up the front desk.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," he told the lady sitting at the front desk.

She nodded and typed on the computer.

"Nine o'clock?" she confirmed.

"Yes," Isshin answered with a nod.

The lady typed some more before turning back to him.

"Doctor Ishida will be ready to see you in a couple of minutes," she said.

Isshin nodded and went back over to his son, who was nodding off.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he gently asked, putting one hand on Ichigo's shoulder and one on his forehead.

"Like shit," Ichigo muttered, weakly pushing his father's hand away. "How do you think I'm feeling?"

The black haired man gently squeezed his son's shoulder before sitting back, waiting for the nurse. While waiting, Ichigo turned towards him.

"I want to go home," he whispered.

Isshin turned back to him with a sympathetic look on his face.

He understands that Ichigo is terrified of hospitals and it's reasonable. His grandmother died in the hospital from a chronic sickness when he was younger and ever since then, Ichigo has associated the hospital with death. It scares him.

"Can't we just go and forget about this?" Ichigo asked. "You can take care of me as well as the doctor here can."

Isshin shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry Ichigo," he said. "You have to get checked out. It won't take too long."

'If he doesn't find anything wrong that is,' he thought to himself.

Ichigo opened his mouth to argue when a nurse came out.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," she called.

The teen frowned but stood up.

He knew that it would be crazy to try to run out of the hospital with Isshin as his father. He could easy catch him and bring him back for his appointment.

Ichigo followed the nurse to an exam room, his father following behind, and hopped up onto the exam table. Once there, the nurse took Ichigo's vitals.

"Alright," she said, removing the blood pressure cuff from the teen's arm. "The doctor will see you in just a minute."

The nurse took the clipboard that had Ichigo's results on it with her as she left the room. Once the door closed, Ichigo jumped off the table and began to pace. Isshin frowned at this.

"Ok, ok, take it easy," he said, going over to his son and grabbing his shoulders, stopping him.

"I want to go home, Dad," Ichigo replied, fear clearly in his voice. "Please."

Isshin's heart broke at the fear in his son's voice.

"It'll be alright," he told the teen in a soothing voice. "You just need to relax."

Isshin guided his son back towards the exam table and had him get back on it.

"Just lay down and relax," he said, gently pushing him down.

The orange haired boy did lay down and took some deep breaths to calm down. That really didn't work however. The deep breaths caused the teen to be sucked into a coughing fit. Ichigo bolted up and coughed into his elbow while his father rubbed his back. He coughed for a while. He was still coughing when the doctor entered the room. The doctor waited for the coughing fit to subside before speaking.

"That is a rough sounding cough," the doctor, Doctor Ishida, commented once Ichigo stopped coughing.

"It is," Isshin responded, turning towards the white haired man. "Thank you so much for seeing him on such short notice."

Ishida ignored the thanks and turned towards the boy, getting into work mode.

"How long has he been feeling like this?" he asked, getting right to business as he looked at the clipboard he got from the nurse.

"Since the night before last," the older Kurosaki answered.

Ishida scribbled that onto the clipboard before asking another question.

"His appetite?"

"Pretty poor."

The doctor wrote that down and studied the clipboard before looking at Ichigo. He studied the teen for a bit before going over to the table and picking up an instrument attached to the wall near it. Ichigo watched him pick up the instrument and winced when it was placed in his ear.

It didn't hurt or anything; it was just uncomfortable.

Ishida looked at the inside of Ichigo's ears before putting the instrument back on its stand. Then, he took out his pen light and took out a tongue depressor from the container on a table in the room.

"Stick out your tongue," he ordered, turning on the light.

Ichigo frowned at the order but did what he was asked. Ishida looked inside his throat for a while before turning off the light and taking the tongue depressor out the teen's mouth. He threw it away and turned the light back on.

"Follow the light with your eyes," he ordered again, shining the light into Ichigo's eyes.

Ichigo squinted and turned away from the light at first before looking back and doing what he was ordered to do.

After that, Ishida turned off the light and put it away. Then, he took his stethoscope off from around his neck and stuck the ear pieces into his ears.

"Take off your shirt," ordered the white haired man.

Ichigo frowned but pulled the shirt over his head and exposed his chest. Ishida placed the diaphragm of the stethoscope on his chest. He listened to his heartbeat for a bit before placing the diaphragm on Ichigo's back and listening to his breathing. After listening for a little bit, Ishida took off the stethoscope and wrapped back around his neck.

"Now, lay down," the white haired doctor ordered once more.

Ichigo laid down and watched Ishida as he pressed on his stomach.

"Does this hurt?" the doctor asked as he pressed down a little on the teen's stomach.

Ichigo shook his head.

Ishida asked the same question over and over while pressing on Ichigo's stomach. Once he was done, he had the teen sit up and put his shirt back on.

"I want to speak to you alone," Ishida told the worried father, who watched the proceedings quietly.

Isshin frowned but followed Ishida outside the room. Once the door was closed, the white haired doctor looked at him.

"It's just a moderate case of the flu," he told him. "The worse of it should pass in a couple more days."

Isshin nodded.

"Ok," he said. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"Just give him this stronger medicine I'll prescribe to him every four hours," the other doctor answered. "And call me if he gets worse or he doesn't get any better."

The black haired man nodded again.

"Thank you," he told him.

"I'm a doctor, Kurosaki," Ishida told him with a frown. "I'm only doing my job."

"But still," said Isshin with a grateful look on his face. "Thank you, Ryuken."

Then, he pulled the shorter doctor into a hug. Ishida's eyes widened.

"Let go of me!" he snapped.

Isshin was pushed away and he hit the wall on the other side of the hallway.

"I see you still like to hug people randomly," said the white haired man dryly.

He fixed his tie and straightened up.

"I'll go get the medicine for you," he told him, getting back to business. "And once you get home, have him take the medicine with his lunch and go to sleep. The medicine is stronger than what you're giving him and will make him drowsy."

Isshin nodded.

"Alright," he said.

Ishida nodded as well.

I'll be back with the medicine," he repeated before leaving.

As the white haired doctor left, Isshin went back into the exam room. He found Ichigo coughing as quietly as he can into his arm. Ichigo soon stopped and looked up at him.

"Well?" Ichigo asked hoarsely. "What did he say?"

Isshin could tell that he was worried. Not that he blamed him, he was talking to Ishida for a while. The older man gave his son a reassuring smile.

"It's just a moderate case of the flu," he told him. "Doctor Ishida is prescribing some stronger medicine for you to take."

The orange haired boy scowled at the mention of medicine.

"Come on now," said Isshin. "It'll help you get better quicker."

Ichigo huffed.

"Doesn't make it taste better," he muttered.

Then, the door opened and Ishida entered with a bottle in his hands.

"Ok, this is the medicine," he told the other doctor as he handed it to him. "Have him take this after every meal every day."

Isshin nodded, taking note that they are tablets, before looking at his oldest child.

"They're tablets," he said to the teenager. "You'll be ok with taking them, right?"

Ichigo nodded, happy that the medicine was in pill form instead of the dreaded liquid form. Isshin nodded again.

"Alright then," he said. "Let's get you back home and into bed."

Then, he turned back towards Ishida.

"Thank you again," said the taller doctor before turning back to his son. "Come on now Ichigo."

Ichigo jumped off the table and made his way towards the door, nodding at Doctor Ishida as he left, with Isshin right behind him.

 **Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and as always, let me know if you think anything needs to be changed.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I own nothing**

After they left the hospital, Isshin decided to drive by a restaurant and pick up something for lunch. Once he did that, he drove them home. When they reached the Kurosaki clinic and home, Isshin grabbed the food, his keys and Ichigo's medicine and brought them inside, despite Ichigo insisting that he can carry something.

"Here you go," said Isshin, placing a bag at Ichigo's spot at the table before sitting down with his own. "Eat."

Ichigo frowned at his father but sat down and opened up the bag that contained his lunch. It was a bowl of hot soup. He took out the bowl and the spoon and began to eat. As he ate, Isshin watched him while eating his own food. But Ichigo finished eating quickly, having only eaten a quarter of his food.

"I'm going to bed," Ichigo muttered as he stood up.

Isshin frowned.

"Ichigo…" he started.

The teenager stopped him, irritation radiating from the boy.

"I honestly don't give a shit if I need to eat more, Goat Face," the teen interrupted, snapping. "Just be happy that I ate that much. I'm going to bed."

Then, the orange haired boy began to walk away but was quickly stopped by his father, who had stood up immediately and grabbed the boy's arm.

"Ichigo, you need to eat," Isshin told him in a worried tone. "It'll help keep your strength up."

Ichigo gave his father his trademark scowl before ripping his arm out of his grasp.

"I. Am. Tired," the teen growled. "I'm going to go to sleep. That's what you wanted me to do right? Get as much rest as I can?"

Then, Ichigo turned around and stomped up the stairs to his room while Isshin watched with concern and worry in his eyes. He sighed before grabbing the bag that contained Ichigo's medicine and taking out the bottle as well as grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. Isshin went upstairs and found his son getting into bed.

"I'm not hungry," the boy snapped, pulling his covers roughly over him and turning away from his father.

"I know," said Isshin quietly, like he's talking to a spooked animal. "I thought since you were going to bed, you might as well take your medicine that the doctor prescribed."

The teen sat up as Isshin walked over and handed him the pills and water bottle. Ichigo took the pills and water bottle, opening and shaking out a couple of pills before popping them into his mouth, chasing them down with water. After placing the bottles on the bedside table, Ichigo laid down and pulled the covers over him.

Isshin sighed.

"Sleep well," he said.

Then, he left the room to let Ichigo sleep. He sighed again.

"He needs to eat," he muttered to himself as he walked down the stairs. "That might help that temper of his."

While Isshin was used to Ichigo's bad temper, it still didn't excuse his behavior towards him. He was going to talk to him about it but he decided to let it go for now since the boy was getting the rest he needs and took the prescribed medicine. Once he got downstairs, Isshin started on the house chores. He did the chores until his two daughters returned home from school.

"Hello girls!" Isshin greeted cheerfully despite his worry for Ichigo when his girls entered the Kurosaki home. "How was school?"

"How's Ichi?" Karin asked, ignoring the question altogether as she placed her bag down by the door.

"Yeah, how's Ichi?" Yuzu asked, worry in her voice as she did the same.

The older man sighed at the question and walked over to them.

"Well, it turns out that he has a moderate case of the flu," he answered them. "The doctor prescribed a stronger medication for him." Isshin looked over at the clock. "Which he needs to take right now," he continued, looking back at his girls. "Do you think you two can convince Ichigo to eat the rest of his soup and take his medicine?"

The girls looked at each other, deciding something silently, before looking back at their father.

"I think we can," said Yuzu, nodding.

Isshin nodded before going back and heating up the soup. Once it was done, he brought the steaming bowl over to them.

"His medicine is on his bedside table," said Isshin, handing the bowl to Yuzu. "If he's asleep, see if you can wake him up. Gently."

He said the last part to Karin, knowing that she would either shake his shoulders roughly or shout him awake. Karin rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry Dad," she said, turning towards the stairs. "You won't hear any screaming."

Then, she began to walk towards them, Yuzu following her.

"And just to warn you, he's been in a bad mood since we've returned home from the hospital," Isshin called.

Yuzu winced at that information as they climbed the stairs.

"You don't think Ichi will yell at us," she said nervously to Karin. "Do you?"

Karin shrugged.

"Who knows," she answered. "If he does, we yell back."

Yuzu frowned.

"We can't do that," said the light brown haired girl. "He's sick."

"He can't be too sick if he feels up to yelling at us," Karin replied.

"But still," said Yuzu as approached Ichigo's bedroom door. "No yelling. It'll make him worse."

Karin sighed but nodded while Yuzu gently knocked on his door.

"Ichi?" she called.

There was no response. Yuzu raised her hand to knock again when a coughing fit suddenly could be heard from the outside. It didn't sound really good. The twins looked at each other with concern.

"Ichigo?" Karin asked worriedly.

"Ichi?" Yuzu called as well.

The only reply was the sound of Ichigo coughing. But soon, they could hear his cough dying down and the sound of feet walking across the floor. They jumped a little when the door was opened. They looked up and saw a sick Ichigo wrapped in blanket. He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders and let out a cough.

"Hey," he greeted in a hoarse voice. "What's up?"

Yuzu and Karin gave each other worrying looks before looking back at their brother.

"We brought you soup," said Yuzu tentatively, holding up the bowl of soup.

"And we came to make sure you took your medicine," Karin added gruffly, hiding her own worry.

Ichigo rolled his eyes at that but let them into his room. Karin took the bowl from Yuzu as she headed towards the bedside table to get the medicine while the light brown haired twin guided Ichigo back to bed.

"I'm alright Yuzu," he told her, coughing some more.

"No you're not," Yuzu replied with a concern pout on her face. "You need to be in bed."

The orange haired teen didn't fight her as she had him get back into bed. She pulled a blanket over him as Karin handed him his medicine and water bottle.

"Take the medicine and then eat," the black haired girl ordered, standing back and crossing her arms.

"Be nice," Yuzu told her twin as he took his medicine. "Ichi's still very sick."

"I'm not very sick," Ichigo rasped, swallowing some water. "I'm just sick with the flu."

Neither one of the twins wanted to argue with him so they stayed quiet while Karin handed the soup and spoon over to her brother, who took it, set it in his lap and began to eat.

"Dad told us that you weren't in a great mood when you guys came home from the hospital," the black haired girl stated, watching Ichigo eat.

Ichigo gave her a sharp glare.

"You would be too if you had to go to the doctor's for an unnecessary checkup," snapped the teenager.

"Dad's just worried," said Yuzu, sitting down next to him. "He probably just wanted to make sure that what you have isn't serious."

"The flu isn't serious," he told them, placing the soup bowl back on his bedside table.

Yuzu huffed as Karin looked over at the bowl, taking note that there's a quarter of soup left.

"Yes, it is," Yuzu replied, looking a little irritated. "If you aren't careful, you'll get sick enough to have to stay in the hospital."

Ichigo sighed at that and rolled his eyes.

"You know what?" he said, looking at her with irritation in his eyes as well. "I'm not going to fight with you about this."

Then, he pulled the blanket around his shoulders off and covered himself with it as he laid back down while Yuzu stood back up.

"Ichi!" Yuzu whined. "This is serious!"

The black haired girl sighed at the display and rolled her eyes

"Quit whining Yuzu," Karin ordered, crossing her arms. "He'll be fine. He just needs to rest."

Then, she grabbed her twin's arm and began to pull her away.

"Get plenty of sleep Ichigo," Karin called as she left.

"We'll be back later to check on you," Yuzu called in a rush as her twin dragged her away.

Ichigo sighed and turned away from his door, curling up in a ball to warm up.

"Man, they drive me crazy," he muttered, falling asleep again.

Then, for another hour, Ichigo slept soundly and when he woke up, he could hear voices downstairs. He got up and went towards the stairs.

"Please can we see him, Mr. Kurosaki?" a familiar female voice asked. "We haven't seen him in a while and we have his homework."

'Orihime!' he thought.

Ichigo rushed downstairs and saw his friends, Orihime, Uryu and Chad talking to his father.

"What are you guys doing here?" the orange haired teen hoarsely asked.

His father and friends stopped talking and turned around to face him. Isshin, Uryu and Chad had frowns on their faces while Orihime broke into a smile.

"Ichigo!" she exclaimed, rushing over to him and giving him a hug.

The sick teen let out a gasp as he was hugged tightly, which caused him to go into a coughing fit.

"Oh, sorry!" she said, quickly letting him go.

Ichigo's coughing fit lasted for a while but once it stopped, he looked at her.

"It's ok," he told her, letting off another cough. "And what are you guys doing here?"

Uryu stepped forward when the question was asked.

"We brought you your homework," he told him. "And we came to see how you were doing."

"And by the looks of it," added Chad, "not so well."

Ichigo glared at them while his father went over to him and placed the back of his hand on his forehead.

"You need to be back in bed," said Isshin, removing his hand. "Go on up and I'll be up in a bit to take your vitals."

"Do you really have to do that now?" Ichigo asked in an irritated voice. "My friends are here. Can't I hang out with them for a little bit?"

Isshin sighed.

"Ichigo…" he started.

Then, he saw the orange haired girl get in front of his son and clasp her hands together.

"Please Mr. Kurosaki," Orihime begged. "We haven't seen him for a while."

Isshin frowned and was about to tell her 'no' when the black haired teenager spoke.

"We promise to keep him calm," Uryu added, stepping forward. "And we'll leave if he gets worse."

The father's frown got deeper as he looked at each of the teens' faces; Orihime's pleading, Uryu's neutral but hopeful, Chad's neutral and his son's irritated face. After a minute of deliberation, he finally breathed deeply.

"Alright," he conceded.

Ichigo looked relieved while his friends smiled, Orihime smiling brighter than the two other boys.

"Thank you so much Mr. Kurosaki!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, thank you," said Chad politely.

The older man gave them a small smile.

"You three head upstairs," he told them. "Ichigo will be up in a minute. I just need to take his temperature."

"Dad…" Ichigo started to protest as his friends followed his father's order.

He quickly shut up at his father's look that told him not to complain.

"Come on," said Isshin, walking towards the kitchen. "Let's get your temperature."

Ichigo huffed but followed his father into the kitchen. His father picked up the thermometer off the table and turned it on. Then, he stuck the thermometer under his son's tongue.

"I'm hoping that your fever has dropped at least," he muttered, placing a hand on Ichigo's forehead.

Ichigo irritably pushed his father's hand away and glared at him.

"And I know you're not happy with being sick right now," Isshin continued, frowning, "but you're going to stop with this behavior towards me."

The teen held a gaze with his father for a moment before turning away. The thermometer chose this moment to beep. Isshin pulled the instrument out of his son's mouth.

"Still 39 degrees," he muttered, looking at the results. "I'm sorry Ichi but your friends aren't going to stay long. Your temperature hasn't dropped at all today and I need you to get more rest."

"But Dad…" Ichigo began to protest.

"Nope," Isshin shook his head. "No arguing."

Ichigo frowned but sighed.

"Ok," he muttered.

Then, he made his way upstairs to his room. He found his friends sitting in his desk chair and on the floor. Orihime, who was on the floor, stood up and went over to him.

"How are you feeling Ichigo?" she asked, getting really close to him. "Are you tired? Do you need water? Actually, you should be in bed."

Then, she grabbed Ichigo's arm and dragged him to his bed.

"Be careful Orihime," Chad scolded gently. "You don't want to hurt him."

"I'm fine," Ichigo complained as he was forced into bed.

He began to cough after that. Orihime quickly covered him with his blanket but frowned at it afterwards.

"This doesn't look warm enough," she said before turning to Uryu. "Can you make a blanket? This one's too thin. Ichi will freeze if he uses this one."

The black haired teen studied the blanket. Then, he studied Ichigo's appearance.

"I can but if he's using this one, then he's…" Uryu started.

"Great!" Orihime exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I'll go get the fabric! I'll be right back!"

Then, she dashed out of his room to go to her house, the three boys watching her leave. Uryu sighed once she left.

"I'll try not to make it too girly for you," he told him, turning back to the orange haired teen.

Ichigo, in turn, glared back.

"It better not be girly or I'll kick your ass."

 **Author's note: I apologize if the chapter ended weirdly. I just couldn't figure out how to end the chapter the best way possible so I ended it in way that seemed ok to me. I hope you all enjoyed it.**


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